In human chemistry, Vyacheslav Ivanov (1866-1949) was a Russian symbolist poet and philosopher noted for []
Overview
In circa 1910, Ivanov began to incorporat the ideas and concepts of German polymath Johann Goethe’s human chemical theory, as presented in his 1809 Elective Affinities, into his philosophy, outlook on reality, and his own personal relationships. Ivanov, e.g., describes the “message” of Elective Affinities as follows: [1]
“True love is a chemical affinity of human monads; they are elementally attracted to one another by the invincible necessity of a law of nature. In the spiritual and physical make-up of those predestined by nature to be joined, a series of inherent correspondences is found.”
Here we see Ivanov mixing in German polymath Gottfried Leibniz’ monad theory into the picture, with is mention of “human monads”.
In his later years, Ivanov describes Goethe’s Elective Affinities as “the ultimate revelation about the mystery of love”. [1]
Elective affinity | Love letters
See also: Ernst Haeckel (love letters)
Ivanov’s love letters of 1895 to Lidiya Dmitrievna Zinov’eva-Annibal, whom he met early that year, and how eventually became his second wife, are filled with references to Elective Affinities, in regards to theory and comparisons of the characters to himself.
References
1. (a) Ivanov, Vyacheslav. (c.1900). SS, vol. 4, pg. 147.
(b) Wachtel, Michael. (1995). Russian Symbolism and Literary Tradition: Goethe, Novalis, and the Poetics of Vyacheslav Ivanov (Wahlverwandtschaften, pgs. 32-33; human monads, pg. 34). University of Wisconsin Press.
2. Wachtel, Michael. (1995). Russian Symbolism and Literary Tradition: Goethe, Novalis, and the Poetics of Vyacheslav Ivanov (Lidiya Dmitrievna Zinov’eva-Annibal, pgs. 31-36). University of Wisconsin Press.
External links
● Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov – Wikipedia.
